Wash-board protector



fN M d 1. A e c. J. BONSFIBLD.

WASH BARD PROTECTOR.

No. 353,283. Patented 1\ov.30,v 1886-.

@YDS

NV FETERS, Fholn-Lnnognpher. Walhington, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT Omron.

CHARLIE J. BCNsEIELD, E soUrH BAY CITY, MICHIGAN.

WASH-BOARD PROTEGTOR.- y

- QPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 353,283, dated November 30,V 1886.

Application tiled April 271, 1855. Serial No. 199,609. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may concern:v

Be it known that I, CHARLIE J. BoNsFIELD, acitizen ofthe United States, residing at South Bay City, in the county of Bay, State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wash-Board Protectors7 of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to `improvements in wash-board protectors which are attached to an ordinary wash-board in a suitable manner to serve to prevent the water and suds from splashing over. the upper end ofthe board; and it consists,;chieliy, in the Combination, construction, and arrangement of the several portions of the device, as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.`

The objects of my invention are to arrange a washboard protector in a manner that it willv be more effective in its operation, that may be folded compactly for shipping and storing, and that may be firmly braced in a working Y position, and to construct it so that it may be quickly and easily -changed for use on either side of the board in a manner that while one portion is extended for use on one side the other portion is folded on the opposite side,and forms the bottom of the soap-holder or branding-board, whereby a deeper and more roomy soap-holder is formed and the material used in the construction of an ordinary brandingboard is applied to form a portion of the device,whereby a saving of material isefected. I attain these objects by means of the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a View in perspective of myimproved protector in a position for use and attached to a common wash-board. Fig. 2 is a of an ordinary v by the backboard d. The upper'ends of the side pieces, as shown in Fig. 2, when not in use, and to be raised up to'a position at right angles with the board when in an operative position, the portion t' being slightly curved to conform to the rounded ends of the side pieces, and is held in position to bear against the rounded ends of theside pieces by the y hinge pieces f. A second protector piece, h', of a similar form and securedina similar manner to the rod c, is placed upon the opposite side of the side pieces,'and isl secured in a closed position by a hook, j, pivoted to' the cross -bar b and a staple, k, in the piece h. This piece h, when in the position shown, forms the bottom of a soap holder,

lwhich in the usual double board is very sha1-gV low, being formed by placing a bottom piece or branding-board midway between the edges of the side pieces, so that a shallow pocket is formed on each side of the brandingboard, while with my device a soap-holder of a depth of the full width of the side pieces, a, is obtained without additional expense or material, the extra protecting-piece forming thek branding-board.

In order to prevent the suds or water from y leaking through the joint between the curved edges, a groove, l, is formed in the meeting edge of the piece h, and a lip, m, adapted to t into the groove l, is formed upon the edge of the piece h', and also a groove, a, is formed upon the edge of the piece h, anda corresponding lip, o, is formed upon the pie'ceh,V

so that when' the protector-pieces are in a working position the water splashing against ,the extended protector will be prevented from passing through the joint by the grooves and lips, so that it must pass upon the closed protector or bottom of the soap-holder, and thence again to the t'ub through the opening p between the -lower edge of the closed protector or soap-holder bottom and the cross-bar b.

In order to secure the protector in an ex- IOO tended or Working position, a jointed brace, q1 is placed in the central portion of the board, with one end pivotally secured to the protecting-piece h, near its outer edge,and With its opposite end secured in a similar manner to the protector h at the bottom of the soap-holder. This brace forms,when extended, a rigid support, which holds the protector piece in a working position, andalso holds the pieces h .and h in a proper position relative to each other when the board is reversed, as Whenthe hook j is disengaged from the staple lo the pieces h and h. may be operated inthe manner shown in Fig 3, bringing the piece 7L to bear upon the side pieces, a, Where it can be secured by engaging the hook j with the staple 7c', so that the board may be reversed and have the soap-holder and protector upon the opposite side thereof, and when the protector Having described my invention, what I claim Y as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is f 1. The combination, with a Wash board I do not, however, confine my invention having a rod extending across and passed into the upper ends of its side pieces, of two protector-pieces hinged independently of each other to the said cross-rod and provided on their outer edges, the one with allongitudinal groove and the opposite one with a lip fitting into the said groove, and means, as described, for retaining the protector-pieces in a Working position, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. The combination, with a Wash board having .the rod e extending across and passed into the upper end of the side pieces, a, of the protector-pieces 7L audit on opposite sides ot' the side pieces and hinged to the rod e, the jointed brace q, the hook j, and staples k and t 7c', substantially as shown, and for the purpose herein set forth.

3. The combination, in a wash-board protector, of the piece 7L, extending across and over the side pieces, a, and hinged to the crossrod e, and provided-with the curved portion ,and having the groove Zand lip m on its up per edge, with a piece, It', placed upon the opposite side of the board and hinged to the cross-rod e, and provided With a curved portion, i', and having upon its upper edge the groove u and `lip o, substantially as herein shown, and for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I' aftiX-my'signature in presence of two Witnesses.

Y CHARLIE J. BONSFIELD-` Vitnesses:

J. E. THoMAs, W. H. POWER. 

